was much troubled by the Dyak dogs, which, being always
kept in a state of semi-starvation, are ravenous for animal
food. I had a great iron pan, in which I boiled the bones
to make skeletons, and at night I covered this over with
boards, and put heavy stones upon i t ; but the dogs
managed to remove these and carried away the greater part
of one, of my specimens. On another occasion they
gnawed away a good deal of the upper leather of my strong
boots, and even ate a piece of my mosquito-curtain, where
some lamp-oil had been spilt over it some weeks before.
On our return down the stream, we had the fortune to fall
in with a very old male Mias, feeding on some low trees
growing in the water. The country was flooded for a long
distance, but so full, of trees and stumps that the laden
boat could not be got in among them, and if it could have
been we should only have frightened the Mias away. I
therefore got into the water, which was nearly up to my
waist, and waded on till I was near enough for a shot.
The difficulty then was to load my gun again, for I was so
deep in the water that I could not hold the gun sloping
enough to pour the powder in. I therefore had to
search for a shallow place, and 'after several shots under
these trying circumstances, I was delighted to see the
monstrous animal roll over into the water. I now towed
him after me to the stream, but the Malays objected to
have the animal put into the boat, and he was so heavy
that I could not do it without their help. I looked about
for a place to skin him, but not a bit of dry ground was to
be seen,- till at last I found a clump of two or three old
trees and stumps, between which a few feet of soil had
collected just above the water, and which was just large
enough for us to drag the animal upon it. I first measured
Tn'm; and found him to be by far the largest' I had yet seen,
for, though the standing height was the same as the others
(4 feet 2 inches), yet the outstretched arms were 7 feet
9 inches, which was six inches more than the previous one,
and the immense broad face was 1 3 | ipches wide, whereas
the widest I had hitherto seen was only 11J inches. The
girth of the body was 3 feet 7-J inches. I am inclined to
believe, therefore, that the length and strength of the arms,
and the width of the face, continues increasing to a very
gréât age, while the standing height, from the sole of the
foot to the crown of the head, rarely if ever exceeds 4 feet
2 inches.
As this was the last Mias I shot, and the last time I
saw an adult living animal, I will give a- sketch of its
general habits, and any other facts connected with it. The
Orang-utan is known to inhabit Sumatra and Borneo, and
there is every reason to believe that it is confined to these
two great islands, in the former of which, however, it
seems to be much more rare. In Borneo it has a wide
xange, inhabiting many districts on the south-west, south